


Superbowl Sunday

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Football, Fluff, M/M, superbowl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 12:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwaine hosts a SuperBowl Party and Merlin isn't too happy about it since he doesn't have the slighest clue about the sport and why he should sit in front of the TV all night long. But then Arthur walks in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Superbowl Sunday

**Author's Note:**

> Written before the SuperBowl two years ago. I didn't know who would win and just guessed :) And yes, SuperBowl Sunday is the biggest holiday in my calendar, why do you ask? 
> 
> Thanks to tambear for the beta!

“Tell me again why I agreed to this?“ Merlin moaned, helping Gwaine move the furniture in the living-room around.

Gwaine patted Merlin’s cheek. “Because you’re fucking awesome, mate!” He grinned widely.

Merlin sighed. Gwaine had managed, yet again, to talk him into something he wasn’t very keen on: To host a Super Bowl party.

Unlike Gwaine, Merlin wasn’t too interested in sports. He watched the occasional football game when it was England playing, but other than that he wasn’t too keen on seeing people sweat on TV. He didn’t have the faintest clue what American Football was about, but Gwaine had talked about it enthusiastically for weeks and in the end he had said it was okay that some of Gwaine’s friends came over to watch the game at their place. Little had he known that the game took place at some ungodly hour since it was played at the other end of the world. Well, almost. 

“This fucking awesome roommate will hole up in his room and go to bed early, you know?”

Gwaine wasn’t having any of that. “You’ll plant your skinny butt on the couch, stuff your face with unhealthy food and wash it down with beer. Just like everyone else!”

Merlin sighed. “Isn’t it enough that I helped make the food, dragged a ridiculous amount of beer bottles up here and helped rearrange the living room?”

“Nope. Not enough. You worked for this, you’ll enjoy the night!”

Merlin doubted that.

 

A few hours later, Merlin opened the door and beamed. “Gwen! Come on in!” At least one familiar face. And if the sports thing was boring, he could at least talk to her. 

Gwen breezed in, dragging a tall bloke with dark hair and soft brown eyes along. “Hey Merlin! This is Lance. Lance...Merlin.” She introduced and then shoved a bowl of what seemed to be pasta salad into Merlin’s arms. “So we won’t starve!”

As she and Lance went over to greet Gwaine, Merlin stored the bowl with the other food in the kitchen. Gwaine had said he invited six people over. By the amount of food already on the counter it looked more like sixteen! Starving sure wouldn’t be one of their problems. 

While Merlin pondered the amount of food, the door bell rang again and Gwaine let in Percy and Leon, who announced that Elyan couldn’t make it since his beloved kitten who he had named Batman, had chosen that night to give birth. He’d never live down not checking the cat’s gender before naming it. 

Percy hauled more beer into the kitchen. “Hey Merlin!”

“Hi.” Merlin had met Percy when he came to pick up Gwaine for the occasional boy’s night out. 

Percy started rummaging through the drawers as if it was his kitchen, found the bottle opener, grabbed a few bottles of beer and made his way back to the living room. 

Merlin wandered back in, too, holding onto a can of soda. He spotted another tall lad – what was it with Gwaine and all the men he knew being so tall? – and waited to be introduced when the doorbell rang again.

“Must be Arthur,” Gwaine shouted, “let him in, Merlin!”

Usually, Merlin would have pointed out that he was nobody’s manservant, but he was standing closest to the door anyway, so he opened it. 

“Hello.” He was greeted by the sight of the latest addition to Gwaine’s circle of friends. A bloke about his size, all blond hair, blue eyes and a toothy smile, already wearing a white jersey with the letters ny in blue on it. For a moment, Merlin just stared. 

“Since I know everyone else, you must be Merlin,” the man said, the smile turning amused. 

“Err...,” Merlin took a step back, “yeah. And you’re...Arthur?” He let the guy in, eyeing the paper bags he carried. “And I hope you didn’t bring more food. We could already feed an army!”

Arthur laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s just some beer and stuff.” 

As if they needed more beer. Merlin rolled his eyes. Then again, if everyone was already drunk before midnight, he might still get a chance to sleep. 

Before he even finished the thought, Arthur was greeted by the others and pulled the ‘stuff’ out of one of the bags. “Hats and jerseys for everyone!”

Gwen squealed and pulled a blue jersey out of the stack and put it on. Everyone laughed when it fell down almost to her knees. “I suppose, you got Percy’s,” Leon chuckled and snapped a picture with his phone. 

Arthur went through the jerseys and pulled the smallest one out. “That’s yours Gwen, my dear.” He winked and started to give everyone their jersey and the matching hat. 

Merlin watched everyone pulling the jerseys over their heads. Okay, there were the white ones, like Arthur was wearing, and blue ones with a different logo. Which meant that not everyone in the room was rooting for the same team. 

He was so busy just watching, feeling like an outsider, that he startled when Arthur turned to him. “Since I didn’t know which team you want to win, I got you one of each.” 

“You...why?” Merlin stammered. They’d met just moments ago, so why had Arthur brought a jersey for him? Or...two as it seemed? 

“Why? Because it’s a rule to wear a jersey while watching the Super Bowl!” Arthur nodded.

Merlin wasn’t convinced that this was an official rule, especially when Gwen giggled. 

“So, who will it be for you?” Arthur still help up both jerseys and waited. 

Feeling all the eyes in the room turned on him, Merlin shrugged. “I don’t care.”

Leon gasped dramatically as he turned to Gwaine. “Don’t tell me, we have a football virgin with us tonight?”

Gwaine laughed. “Won’t tell you then. Merlin’s not too much into sports. And even though I talked about nothing else for the past two weeks, I’m sure he doesn’t even remember the names of the teams.”

Merlin blushed slightly. Wasn’t it enough that he felt out of place already? Did they have to poke fun at him for not knowing what was going on? 

“Take this one, Merlin, they’re the best team ever. And their quarterback is so yummy! You’ll love him!” Gwen laughed, pointing to the blue jersey she was wearing.

“She’s right!” Percy nodded. “I mean, about the best team. Don’t know about the quarterback, though.” He laughed as his mates punched his arms, grinning. 

Merlin looked around. Gwen, Lance and Percy were wearing blue jerseys. Gwaine, Leon and Arthur were wearing white ones. Everyone looked at him expectantly. If he asked for the teams’ names now, they’d obviously think him completely crazy. So he reached for the white one, triggering cheers from Gwaine, Leon and Arthur and outraged murmurs from the others. 

The jersey was too wide and hung on him like a potato sack, but as soon as he had it on, Merlin at least didn’t feel as if sticking out like a sore thumb. Not that wearing a jersey made him an expert on the sport. He still didn’t have the faintest. Not even whose jersey he was wearing. 

Arthur put a hat on his head, too. “Here, completes the outfit.” 

Merlin ripped it off his head. He hated baseball caps. They made his hair disappear and thereby his ears look even bigger. But it wasn’t polite to turn this down, so he pretended to take a closer look at the hat and then put it on again. He could still try to discard it later. 

“There you go,” Leon nodded, “you almost look like a true Giants fan.”

Okay, so ‘his’ team were the Giants. Big people, huge people. They sure would win this, right? But where did they come from and who on earth was the other team? 

When Gwaine declared the buffet open, everyone wandered to the kitchen to load their plates and get more drinks. Merlin leaned against the doorframe, a bottle of beer in his hand, and watched everyone else. They all seemed to be really excited and that made him smile. Maybe this night wouldn’t be as boring and annoying as he’d first thought? 

“Damn, this is the best chilli I’ve ever had. Who made it? Surely not you, Gwaine!” They laughed as Arthur exclaimed around a mouthful of said chilli. 

“Nope, not me. Merlin’s the housewife in this relationship!” Gwaine threw his crumpled up paper napkin at Arthur from across the room. 

“I’m NOT!” Merlin felt his ears heat up. He was no housewife, and first and foremost he wasn’t in a relationship with Gwaine. He just liked to cook.

Arthur came over, still holding his plate of chilli, shovelling spoonfuls into his mouth. “No housewife?” He looked Merlin up and down. “True, the apron’s missing,” he teased. “But this is really good.” Another spoonful vanished. “I could get used to this.” He balanced his plate to the living-room when Percy announced that the pre-game reports were about to start. 

The men all left the kitchen and Merlin started to collect empty plates and cups. He wasn’t a housewife! But that didn’t mean he had to tolerate chaos in the kitchen. The more he could clean up now, the less they’d have to in the morning. 

Gwen leaned against the counter. “So...you and Gwaine?” 

“NO! Nonononono,” Merlin shook his head. “We’re just roommates. Sharing the place. As we’ve done in the past two years. Nothing else.”

After looking at him for a while, Gwen smiled. “Good!” She grabbed a bottle of Corona and left the kitchen. 

Merlin heard them talking about the pre-game reports and nothing that was said made any sense to him other than finding out that the blue team were the Patriots. So he just held onto his own bottle of beer and wandered back into the living-room. Gwen and Lance were snuggled up in the big armchair. While Leon and Gwaine sat on huge cushions on the floor, Percy and Arthur had claimed the couch. 

Percy patted the space in between them. “We saved you a seat, Merlin.”

A seat? Percy was so huge and Arthur wasn’t of the small kind either. Did they expect him to squeeze in there between them?

Arthur waved him over, too. “Yeah, sit. We’ll teach you all about football tonight.”

Merlin felt his heartbeat speeding up a bit, not sure if it was such a good idea to be trapped between those two gorgeous lads all night long. But then, worse things had happened to him. He took a sip of his beer and sat.

“So...what _do_ you know about football?” Arthur flashed him a smile.

“Nothing about sums it up.” Expecting some serious teasing, Merlin added, looking uncertain, “Oh, I know that one team will wear blue shirts, the other white ones!”

Percy laughed. “That’s a start!”

Arthur quickly explained the basics but Merlin was too busy watching his lips move and his blue eyes shine with excitement. Downs? Ten yards? Offense? Defense? Special teams? Touchdown? Just words that echoed though Merlin’s mind, none of them making any sense. 

Taking his own hat off for a moment to run his fingers through his blond hair, only to put the hat on backwards, Arthur grinned. “Not very helpful, eh? It’s easier when you actually see it on the screen.”

“Thanks anyway,” Merlin smiled. Nope, sitting right here, next to Arthur, definitely wasn’t such a bad thing at all. 

The game finally started and soon Merlin was wrapped up in trying to understand what it was about. That Percy and especially Arthur explained almost every play did help. Okay, so one team, the one who had the ball, had 4 tries to get the ball 10 yards towards the other team’s end zone. That was easy enough to understand. The quarterback was the one who made the calls and Gwen was right, the one from the blue team was a cutie. But still...come on....tight ends and wide receivers? Merlin tried hard not to giggle at that. 

“Get your dirty mind out of the gutter, Merlin!” Gwaine threw popcorn at him. 

“What? I didn’t say a word!” Merlin went for the most innocent look he could muster, but failed miserably. “But I think this game could be interesting after all.” He chuckled. 

Soon he learned what a touchdown was, even though it was one for the other team, so half of the people in the room jumped up and cheered while the others slumped in their seats and groaned. 

During the next hour, Merlin enjoyed himself. Even though he still didn’t get the subtleties of the game – and he suspected it would take him a couple of years to do so – he had a vague idea of what was going on. Which was mostly tactics and not, as he’d first believed, brutal force, trying to do as much damage as possible. The huge players in broad shoulder pads and tight pants were a definite plus. But his favourite part was Arthur leaning close all the time while he explained one play or another. 

He didn’t even register that ‘his’ team had scored because Arthur, his eyes fixed on the TV, grabbed his knee excitedly. Merlin threw him a look, but the moment passed as Arthur jumped up. “TOUCHDOWN!” 

Merlin jumped up like all the other ‘whiteshirts’ in the room as they all high-fived each other. 

“They’re back in the race!” Arthur grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug, patting his back and Merlin thought this was by far the best part of the evening and could those New York Giants please score more often? 

In the beginning, the funny commercials made up for the fact that the game got interrupted by some rules Merlin didn’t understand and the half-time show was spectacular, even though they missed most of it, refilling their plates with goodies or just stretching and using the bathroom. The second half – and why did they divide the game up in quarters if they played half-times? – of the game started to drag a bit and the commercial breaks got annoying. Leon had gotten comfy, lying on the floor, his head on the cushion, snoring softly. Gwen and Lance spent more time snuggling and snogging than paying attention to the screen. Gwaine and Percy were still discussing tactics and plays.

Merlin, who’d put his hat on backwards – figuring that putting it on in the first place had completely destroyed the efforts he put into his hairdo and he’d rather keep it on – rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. He reached for the crisps in an attempt to keep himself awake. He felt good and didn’t want to fall asleep, missing something they’d all talk about later. And he especially didn’t want to miss anything Arthur said or did. 

What he did, was put his arm on the back of the couch, smiling at Merlin. “Are you still regretting this?”

“Regretting?” 

“You didn’t look too thrilled when we all showed up here and you were forced to wear a jersey of a team you’d never heard of before.” Arthur smiled. 

Merlin chuckled. “True, but you completely made up for that.” He blushed. “You lot, I mean.” 

Arthur grinned and put the arm he had on the back of the couch around Merlin’s shoulder to pull him close. “I understand.”

Silently they watched more of the game and at some point Merlin fell asleep. He jerked up when he noticed movement. The others had gotten up and said their good-byes. The game was over and Merlin had slept through it! On Arthur’s shoulder nonetheless! He got up quickly. 

Gwen yawned widely and then came over to kiss Merlin’s cheek. “Thanks for having us over. See you tomorrow.” She and Lance left, followed by Percy and Leon, all of them instructed to come back after getting some sleep. There were too many leftovers that had to be dealt with. 

Gwaine murmured something about “Have to go. Emergency.” and dashed to the bathroom.

After putting on his jacket, Arthur took Merlin’s hand and they made their way reluctantly to the door. Merlin pondered asking Arthur to stay, but he was too tired. And Arthur would be back with the others to take care of the leftovers later in the day anyway, right? 

“Thanks for explaining all night long.” Merlin tried to come up with something coherent to say. “And sorry for falling asleep on you.”

Arthur chuckled. “Any time. And don’t worry about that.”

“Oh,” Merlin frowned, “since I missed the end of the game...who won?”

Arthur leaned in and put a soft kiss on Merlin’s lips. “I did.”


End file.
